Watch: Denzel Washington Addresses Those 'Black Panther 3' Rumors and Talks 'Gladiator II' Oscar BuzzDenzel Washington would like to reintroduce himself. While recently discussing his love of football and NFL players who share his name-including Cleveland Browns corner back Denzel Ward and two additional Denzels on the Arizona Cardinals-the Malcolm X actor joked that they were all named after him despite a major mispronunciation error. "My name is not actually pronounced Denzel," he told Jimmy Kimmel during a Sept. 3 appearance on his eponymous late night show, before going on to pronounce his name with emphasis on the first syllable. "My name is pronounced Denzel." However, the 70-year-old admitted that he ultimately ended up going by his pseudo-moniker because it helped his mom Lennis Washginton differentiate between him and his dad Denzel Washginton Sr. "My mother would say, 'Denzel?' and we'd both show up," he recalled. "So she said, 'From now on, you're Denzel.' That's how we got it pronounced Denzel." Of course, the Equalizer alum isn't the only star to go by a mispronunciation. Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce recently revealed that their last name is technically only one syllable, like 'Kels' despite their family separating it into two with 'Kel-see.'readDenzel Washington Officially Joins Black Panther 3, Ryan Coogler ConfirmsAnd while their dad Ed Kelce knew that they were mispronouncing the family name, he simply went with it based on how other people said it. "At work, that was my work name," he said of how the family pronounces their name on a 2023 episode of New Heights. "Everybody at work did that so I just said, 'Fine, screw this, I'm gonna do that.'" As for his advice to Jason and Travis over how they should pronounce the family name, forward, Ed succinctly replied, "Do whatever you want, that's what I did."Valerie Terranova/Getty ImagesMeanwhile, other stars have been ushered in to different names entirely. Emma Stone shared that she updated her name professionally when her given name, Emily Stone, was unavailable at the Screen Actors Guild. "It's sort of like when you register a business and you can't have the same name as someone else," she explained during a 2024 appearance on Today. "I've been saying Emily my whole life. You can call me whatever you want. You can make up a name." Keep reading for more stars whose name you might be saying wrong... Reynaud Julien/APS-Medias/ABACA/ShutterstockKirsten Dunst (Pronounced: Keer-Sten)The Spider-Man actress told Town & Country in August 2025 that people usually call her "kerr-sten" or "criss-ten." However, the correct way to say her name is "keer-sten." "I don't blame people," she said. "You just give up."Valerie Terranova/Getty ImagesDenzel Washington (Pronounced: Den-Zel)While the Equalizer star admitted it was his mother Lennis Washington who evoked the change due to he and his father having the same name, he confirmed fans have been saying his name wrong in 2025. "My name is not actually pronounced Denzel," he told Jimmy Kimmel during an appearance on his eponymous late night show at the time, before going on to pronounce his name with emphasis on the first syllable. "My name is pronounced Denzel."Jamie Squire / Getty ImagesTravis Kelce (Pronounced: Kels)Travis and brother Jason Kelce debated on their New Heights podcast whether to go by "Kel-see" or "Kels," with Travis deciding to do the latter.
Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty ImagesTaylor Lautner (Pronounced: Lout-Ner)Speaking with E! News in February 2022, Taylor revealed the first syllable of his last name rhymes with "out" instead of being pronounced as "lot." Theo Wargo/Getty Images for NYFW: The ShowsEmily Ratajkowski (Pronounced: Rat-Ah-Kof-Sky or Rat-Ah-Cow-Skee)After much speculation surrounding her moniker, the model set the record straight in a TikTok shared by Tory Burch, where she provided "the Polish way" to say it. She has also introduced herself by pronouncing her last name "Rat-Ah-Cow-Skee."TikTokRaven-Symoné (Pronounced: See-mon-ye)While Raven-Symoné's character could see the future on That's So Raven, fans likely didn't see this coming. The actress revealed in a January 2023 TikTok that her name has been mispronounced for years and is actually pronounced See-mon-ye.
Taylor Hill/WireImageBrendan Fraser (Pronounced: Fray-zer)After Adam Sandler accidentally mispronounced the Oscar winner's last name during a December 2022 interview for Variety's Actors on Actors series, the George of the Jungle star swung in with a trick that can help fans remember how to say the moniker correctly: Fraser rhymes with razor.
Cliff Lipson/CBS via Getty ImagesAdele (Pronounced: Uh-Dale)During a Q&A in October 2022, the powerhouse singer praised a fan for "perfectly" pronouncing her name as "uh-dale" when asking a question.
TwitterLindsay Lohan (Pronounced: Lo-Wen)For her introductory video shared to TikTok in February 2022, Lindsay Lohan inadvertently set the record straight on how to correctly pronounce